Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 1,178 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 44.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,472 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,178 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 1st quarter worth approximately $623,155,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,901,049,000 after purchasing an additional 954,242 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 195.0% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,153,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $224,961,000 after purchasing an additional 762,468 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 46.6% in the second quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,306,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $419,451,000 after purchasing an additional 732,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 45.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,621,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $316,532,000 after purchasing an additional 502,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $202.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $196.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $176.55 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.27 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.11.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 6.65%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.33%.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections, Inc provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.